No U.S. plans to deliver anti-tank systems to Ukraine - U.S. ambassador to Russia

Apr 21 2015

Interfax

Interfax

The U.S. does not plan to deliver Javelin shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine for the moment and is sending defensive gear alone to that country, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

The U.S. does not plan to deliver Javelin shoulder-mounted anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine for the moment and is sending defensive gear alone to that country, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

He said that the U.S. is supplying bullet-proof jackets, glasses and night-vision systems to Ukraine, all of which are defensive, not offensive gear, unlike the numerous types of weapons Russia is supplying to the "separatists."

Tefft also said that cooperation between the U.S. and Ukraine in training Ukrainian servicemen has a long history. The training program under which U.S. airborne troops have arrived to train Ukrainian servicemen has been in action since the Partnership for Peace program was launched in 1994, the U.S. diplomat said.

The program was being developed with Russia's support and aims to train servicemen and to strengthen the security of all former Soviet republics, he said.

The U.S. is not doing anything new. In the past all this was agreed upon with and supported by Russia, he said.